Mama Diaries

Monday, September 3, 2012

Guest Author: Virginia Wright

Today we have a first at my pad. A guest author! Drum roll, please.

I am very excited to introduce you to Virginia Wright, children's author, and one super-nice lady!

About Virginia:

Born and raised in Belfast, ME, children's author
Virginia Wright began her writing career at an early age in a diary with lock
and key given as a gift by her mother.After graduation from high school in 1976, she took coursework in
journalism and writing. Later, as a mother and homemaker, her writings were
published in local publications and newspapers, as well as online. A military
family, the Wrights have lived in countries all over the world and in seven
different states. Her five grandchildren and being a preschool teacher in
Mississippi gave her inspiration to write children’s book.

I asked Virginia some questions about her writing career. Here's what she had to say:

1.Tell us a
little bit about your background and how you became a children’s book author.

Ever since I was a young girl― I put words to
paper. I can remember sitting on the veranda of my parent’s house writing,
first it was a little diary with a lock and key, later, as I started growing up
it was a pen and pad in hand—back then, I wrote mostly Poetry and Haiku’s. My
excitement for writing was realized in 1981, when I sold my first writing to a
regional publication Washington County Magazine, but the excitement for writing
didn’t stop there, it continued to grow!That is so cool that you started writing when you were a kid, and that you're still doing it and love it!

2. What do you like most about writing for children?

While I consider myself a mixed genre writer, children’s
writing has definitely taken front and center the last couple of years. What I
like most about children’s writing the reactions from children when they listen
to my stories and turn the pages of my books. If I see their smiling faces, it
was all worthwhile to me.

Crying Bear was the name of a stuffed bear that I had
when I was a little girl, and she became the inspiration for the title of my
latest children’s book. Crying Bear was a furry red, chubby bellied, stuffed
bear. It had tears that were manufactured on the face that ran down onto the
cheek. A very special little toy of mine for certain.

Description: Join this very adventurous little bear cub,
as she wanders too far from the den in the snow covered mountains of Maine.I've read Crying Bear. It's a sweet book! It's nice to know about the inspiration for it.

4. The world of children's book publishing is extremely
competitive with many authors hesitating between trying their luck with a
traditional publisher or self-publishing. What advice would you offer writers
who are oscillating between these two publishing venues?

My personal best advice to authors trying to decide
between traditional publishers or self-publishing is to― just write!
Then for inspiration, Google John Locke, Amanda Hocking, and Colleen Hoover.
John Locke is the eighth author in the world, and the first self-published
author in history―to have sold 1 million eBooks on Kindle! All three
of Amanda Hockings books in her Trylle Trilogy-Switched, Torn, and Ascend-were
originally self-published, but were later re-released with St.

Martin’s and Pan Macmillan Internationally. Her trilogy
also made the USA Today Bestseller list, the New York Times Bestseller list and
was recently optioned for a film. Colleen Hoover self-published her book,
Slammed and in just a few short months signed a contract with Simon &
Schuster.

Self-publishing was taboo just a few years ago and
self-published authors were shunned by traditionally published authors. Now,
many self-published authors are widely accepted in the writing community and
publishing world.

With that said, self-publishing is definitely worth a
try, especially putting words into digital format (e-Book), because who
knows…one day a traditional publisher may come along and offer you a
seven-digit book deal that is too good to pass up. I’m still waiting on mine,
and I never give up hope. **Smiles**

I'm still waiting for that seven-digit book deal!

5. Do you have any other works in progress?Can you share a little about them?

I’m looking forward to the release of my next children’s
book, The Christmas Secret, in late fall 2012.It feels like it is working into a Christmas classic to me—it is about
two little boys, Mikey and Charlie, who learn the real meaning of giving
through one boy’s selfless act.

I’m not sure where
my writing will take me after that, I have given some thought to write a
Young-Adult (YA) fiction; perhaps, a cookbook, or maybe a romance novel is in
the works too. Stay tuned…

I can't wait to see your new book. Good luck with your other writing endeavors!

To one commenter I will be giving away an autographed
paperback copy of Crying Bear! To another, I will give away a copy of my
non-fiction, Buzzzzzzzz What Honeybees Do, in eBook version.

Thank you for having me as guest author this week.-Virginia WrightYou're welcome. It was fun having you here!

Sherry Ellis's Fan Box

About Me

I am a professional musician who plays and teaches violin, viola, and piano. I am also a childrens author. My published works are That Baby Woke Me Up, AGAIN, That Mama is a Grouch, and Ten Zany Birds. You can visit me at www.sherryellis.org.